Developing sustainably

ISO standards to promote sustainable growth

With so many people talking about sustainability, ISO standards bring much-needed clarity to the conversation.

More than ever, both consumers and manufacturers recognize the impacts of their choices and actions.

In the past, many of the costs of doing business were hidden, but now ISO standards allow them to be quantified and factored in to decision-making processes. This means more responsive and responsible businesses.

ISO standards enable businesses to plan their future growth around meeting consumer expectations. They enable transparency about products and best practices for limiting their impacts.

Below you can find out more about the most commonly used sustainability and social responsibility standards, who develops them, and new projects in the pipeline.

What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

In 2015 the UN set an ambitious fifteen year plan to address some of the most pressing issues faced by the world.

By supporting our members to maximize the benefits of international standardization and ensure the uptake of ISO standards, we’re helping to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Economic, environmental and societal dimensions are all directly addressed by ISO standards.

Our aim is to spread these benefits as widely as possible through capacity building where it's most needed.

A meaningful, systematic approach to environmental management has made IBM one of the world's most environmentally conscious companies.

The people who develop standards

Covering almost every sector you can think of, from Assistive products to Zinc alloys, ISO has over 200 technical committees. Below we've listed just a handful that we think will be of particular interest to you. If it doesn't have what you're looking for, you can find the complete list of technical committees here.